THE TIME: 7:30pm EST
THE PLACE: BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida
SEASON SERIES: 2-0 for the Bruins, both 3-1 final scores.
THE STAKES: 2 points and 2nd place in the Division
WHERE TO WATCH: NESN, FS-F
WHERE TO LISTEN: 98.5 The Sports Hub
THE OPPOSING SBNATION BLOG: Litter Box Cats
THE PREVIEW:
Now that the hard games are out of the way...
The Bruins have 3/4 points from their last two games. This may not be too significant to you now, but considering the competition, it'd have taken a minor miracle to convince anyone else that those games could've been won by the same team earlier in the season. And now they come to Not-Quite-Miami, Florida to continue their winning streak of two to three, something they haven't been able to do since before the new year.
The Panthers meanwhile, have been in a steady free fall since the beginning of the new year, and especially through February and the beginning of March, and have finally abdicated their spot of 1st in the Atlantic (yeah, it was weird to type that sentence just as much as it was to read it). Combined with the previous two wins that were pretty well earned in the past, they seem like a ripe target for an easy win at the moment. However, counting out a team that has a top 10 goaltender in SV% in Roberto Luongo and a team that's made Jaromir Jagr continue to score like he's a man 20 years his junior is probably not a good idea. There is a reason they were in first for the better half of the year.
The Cats want and need a win, and they'll likely be wanting to spoil the Bruins joyride, and it's sure to be a good game.